
Class Eyil 
Book , H 



.C u-^j 



THE PATRIOT'S SON& OF VIOTOET. 



A THANKSGIVING 



DISCOUESE, 



RECENT MILITARY SUCCESSES, 

DELIVEKED IN THE 

THIRD CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, 

NEW HAVEN, SEPTEMBER 11, 

And Repeated, by Request, in ,the same place, September 18, 1864. 



BY ELISIIA LORD CLEAVELAND, D.D., 

PASTOE OF THE CHURCH. 



NEW HAVEN: 
THOMAS H. PEASE, 323 CHAPEL STREET. 

Price 5 Oents; $3.00 per One Hundred. 

J. H. BENHAM, PKIMTER. 



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EEV. E. L. CLEAYELAND, D. D., 

Dear Sip. : 

The undersigned heartily thank you for the 

able defense of the principles involved in the present war, contained in your Sermon 

first preached on the President's Thanksgiving Day, (Sunday, 11th iust.,) and 

repeated by request before a crowded audience, lust Sabbath evening. It appeals to 

the heart of every lover of his country, and ought, in our opinion, to be oxten 

sively circulated. We would therefore request ynu to furnish us with a copy for 

publication. 

Very Eespectfully, 

Your friends, 
Wii. B. Bristol, 

JonX "WoODRtTF, 

S. D. Pardee, 
M. G. Elliott, 
James Brewster, 
Be>-j. S. Pardee, 
George S. Lester, 
William Franklin, 

E. T. Foote, 
Henry Dutton, 
JuDAH Erisbie, 

F. E. Harrison, 
Isaac Thomson, 
Hiram Stevens, 
S. W. S. Dutton, 
Lyman Osborn. 



Morris Tyler, 

D. K. Satterlee, 
Charles Wilson, 

ClIAS. BOSTWICK, 

E. C. SCRANTON, 

W. Atwater, 
'Andrew W. DeForest, 
D. E. Wright, 
Wells Soutuworth, 
Thos. n. Pease, 
S. M. Stone, 
Alfred Walker, 
Cyprian Willcox, 
Benjamin Smith, 
J. Foot, Jr., 
D. E. Benham, 
IsEW Haven, September 19th, 1S64. 



Messrs. W. B. Bristol, Morris Tyler, and oTHiiRs, 
Gentlemen : 

Eecognizing the right of the country to the ser\ ice ot 
every man in her present death-struggle with treason, and deferring to your judg- 
ment in regard to the propriety of publishing my Discourse, I submit the manuscript 
to your disposal, and am, with great respect. 

Your friend and fellow citizen, 

E. L. CLEAYELAND. 



y.-^' 



^ 



' S E E M O N . 



" Then sang Deborah and Barak, the son of Abixoam, on that day, say- 
ing : Praise ye the Lord for the avenging of Israel, m'hen the people 

WILLINGLY OFFERED THEMSELVES." JuclgeS V. 1, 2. 

Is War ever justifiable ? Many seem inclined to decide this question in the 
negative. From the tone of their remarks, one would suppose that it were 
better to suffer any and all calamities rather than appeal to arms as a remedy ; 
that not even the preservation of national existence is an object of sufficient 
magnitude to justify the shedding of human blood ; that to rejoice over vic- 
tories which, though they may have saved our country, have nevertheless 
been gained at the cost of precious lives, is unbecoming a christian people ; 
and that no church, or minister of Christ, can consistently offer public thanks 
to God on an occasion associated with so many bloodj' horrors. Much has 
been said, written and done, that fully implies all this and more ; and the 
Bible has been confidently appealed to in justification of these views. We 
accept the appeal, and challenge any one to show that the Scriptures condemn 
war indiscriminately and under all circumstances. Wars conceived in the 
lust of ambition and malice, are indeed condemned, — but wars forced upon 
us by the injustice and wickedness of others, — wars which we cannot decline 
without forfeiting our high and sacred trust as a nation, — wars involving 
principles of highest moment to our race, — wars which aim their deadly 
blows at the very seat of our national life, we may accept without violating 
either the letter or the spirit of the Scriptures. Such wars were not only al- 
lowed of God, but were sometimes enjoined upon his ancient people, under 
the severest penalties, in case of disobedience. In support of this position, 
I refer to the grand old war-song of which my te.xt is the opening stanza. 
It was composed by the prophetess Deborah, under the direct inspiration of 
God, in honor of the great victory achieved by Israel over the Canaanites ; 
and it abounds with evidences that the bloody battle it celebrates, was fought 
under the divine sanction. In the first place, it was at the express command 
of God that the war was undertaken. Moved by the cry of his people 
under the tyranny of their oppressors, he sent word by Deborah- to Barak, 
— "Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded, saying. Go and draw to- 
ward Mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of 
Naphtali, and of the children of Zebulon ? And I will draw unto thee, to the 



river Kishon, Sisera, tlie captain of Jabin's array, with his chariots and his 
multitude, and I Avill dehver him into thy hand." Under this high warrant, 
Barak went up to the place appointed, "with ten thousand men at his feet," 
and awaited the advance of Sisera with his mighty host, and his nine hun- 
dred chariots of iron. 

In the next place, when Sisera had marched his vast army into the plain 
of Esdraelon, the great battle-ground of Palestine, thro%h which the Ki- 
shon flows, it appears that the signal of attack was given through Deborah 
to Barak, from the same divine authority which ordered the expedition : 
"Up, for this is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine 
hand ; is not the Lord gone out before thee ?" So entirely did God approve 
of this military assault upon the foe, that He himself Avcnt out in advance of 
the army, and took part in the fight. And in very truth it was ^ Jtis right 
hand and his holy arm that gained the victory ' of that memorable day. 
" The Lord discomfited Sisera and all his chariots, and all his hosts with the 
edge of the sword before Barak." And what sort of a discomfiture was this, 
proceeding so directly from the hand of the Lord ? Was it a battle without 
blood? Did war, as administered by a holy and merciful God, so veil its 
terrors that no one was seriously hurt ? Let the prophetess answer ; 
' ' Barak pursued after the chariots and after the host, unto Harosheth of the 
Gentiles ; and all the host of Sisera fell upon ihe edge of the sword, and 
there was not a man left." Sisera, however, fled on foot, but only to perish 
ignominiously that same day by the hand of Jael, the wife of Heber the 
Kenite. 

It was over this field of wholesale slaughter that Deborah and Barak 
raised their song of triumph in the name of the Lord. It is strictly a reli- 
gious anthem, glorifying God as the real author of their victory. The pa- 
triotic and pious songstress exults in every aspect and every circumstance of 
a victory which has delivered her country from a remorseless despotism. 
She delights to honor all those who had any share in its achievement. ' ' My 
heart is towards the governors of Israel, that offered themselves willingly 
among the people ; bless ye the Lord." The heads of the tribes, Avho in 
this hour of their country's peril, voluntarily offered their personal services 
and high official influence against tlie common enemy, had, by that act, won 
the grateful affection of this excellent mother and judge in Israel. Her im- 
agination revels in the substantial fruits of the victory ; she anticipates the 
happy scene when the inhabitants of the villages, delivered at last from the 
fear and tyranny of their oppressors, might publicly and securely assemble 
in the gates and at the places of drawing water, and gratefully rehearse the 
righteous acts of the Lord. Turning again to the helpers of Barak, she 
makes honorable mention of Ephraim, and Benjamin, and the princes of Is-. 
sachar, and the governors of Machir, who joined the expedition and fought 
at Taanach. But the two tribes which furnished the greater part of Barak's 
army, are distinguished above all others with words of praise. " Zebulon 
and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the 



(5 ) 

high places of the field." It was their peculiar honor, not that they had 
taken tender care of themselves, — not that they had fought only when they 
could do so with personal safety, but that they counted not their lives dear 
unto them, if they might rescue their land from the j'okc of slavery. 

The humblest, as well as the most exalted agency, however, is forever to 
stand revealed in the glory of this illustrious victory. The harp of the 
prophetess awakes its sweetest strains, its deepest pathos, and pours forth 
its richest tide of love and gratitude, in memory of that heroic woman who, 
with nail and hammer, finished the detestable career of the sleeping tyrant 
Sisera. " Blessed above women shall Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite be, 
— blessed shall she be above women in the tent." With what intense satis- 
faction does this sweet singer in Israel rehearse the minutest details of that 
remarkable performance ! Every blow struck in Israel's behalf on that glo- 
rious day, was a sure title to lasting gratitude and honor in the hearts of ad. 
miring countrymen. 

Even the forces of animate and inanimate nature come in for their share of 
grateful memorial. " The river Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, 
the river Kishon. my soul, thou hast trodden down strength. There 
were the horse-hoofs broken by the means of the prancings, the prancings of 
their mighty ones." Sisera having been repulsed in the battle just below 
Taanach, turned in his flight down the Kishon about eight miles, as far as 
Harosheth. Here his army, now utterly disorganized by defeat and panic, 
was crowded into a narrow pass, — a mere slaughter pen, — where, mingled 
in horrible, helpless confusion, horses, chariots and men were slain and 
trampled in the mire by the pursuing victors ; while thousands either rushed, 
or were forced into the Kishon, then swollen, swift and irresistible with its 
wintry inundation, and were " swept away" to inevitable death. And here 
it was that the last foe met his doom. It was a scene in which war realized 
its most terrific horrors. And yet the poem extols the trampling cavalry, 
and the rapid Kishon, for their agency in consummating the entire ruin of 
the alien army. It was in the recollection of that awful scene, of which she 
was an eye witness, and in the consciousness of her own participation, 
therein by personal presence and prayer, that the projjhetess, as if she her- 
self had done it, exclaimed, "Omy soul, thou hast trodden down strength." 

But there were still other forces engaged in the conflict. "They fought 
from heaven," says the poetess; "the stars in their courses fought against 
Sisera." So much had God set his heart upon the deliverance of Israel by 
power and force, that he caused the very elements of heaven to co-operate with 
them against the common enemy. In what form this unexpected ally came — 
whether of great hail-stones, as in the days of Joshua, or of hail mingled 
with a blinding rain, as Josephus asserts, or of hail mingled with fire, as in 
Egypt — we can only conjecture. Enough, that it was an ally before 
which the Canaanitcs could not stand. Nor need we wonder that when man 
and God, earth and heaven were thus leagued in exterminating warfare 
against them, not a man of them should have escaped. 



(6) 

But while the author of this song lavishes her grateful praise on every 
person and every thing that contributed in the slightest degree to the accom- 
plishment of this momentous victory, she does not forget certain other par- 
ties, on whom she bestows a very different kind of notice. It seems that all 
her countrymen were not in favor of the war ; at least they did not all take 
part in it. Perhaps they did not approve of war in any case ; or they 
doubted the expediency of this particular war ; they may have thought the 
Canaanites too powerful to be overcome ; or they judged it better to submit 
to the tyranny of their oppressors, than to fight their way to independence 
through the perils of battle ; or possibly they disliked the leadership of the 
expedition ; or they loved their ease, their carnal delights, their worldly 
possessions and comforts too well, to exchange them for the hardships and 
perils of war. At all events, they were found wanting in this hour of their 
country's need. They were for peace, when peace meant degradation, 
slavery and ruin — such a peace as God would by no means tolerate. "For 
the divisions of Reuben there were great thoughts of heart ; why abodest 
thou among the sheep-folds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks f Whj' 
tamely cower afar from danger, and lull your craven fears to rest with the 
peaceful sounds of the bleating sheep, when your brave brethren are march- 
ing and fighting to the spirit-stirring clangor of the war-trumpet? "For 
the divisions of Reuben, there were great searchings of heart." "Gilead," 
(also) " abode bej^ond Jordan, and why did Dan remain in ships ?" Why 
still absorbed with their commercial enterprises when the destinies of the 
nation hung in the balances of war, and were soon to be decided for weal or 
woe, by the dread arbitrament of the sword? " Asher," too, "continued 
on the sea-shore, and abode in his breaches." Sad and shameful record! 
What a story does it tell of selfishnesss, meanness and pusillanimity ! 
What an infamous contrast to the patriotic and heroic conduct of Naphtali 
and Zebulon, who, without waiting for others, without stipulating for their 
own selfish interests, without counting the co.'it, caring only to know that 
God and their country called them to arms, hastened to the scene of action, 
and fearlessly jeopardized their lives unto the death on the high places of the 
field ! 

There was one community, however, which by a peculiarly aggravated 
course of conduct, drew upon itself a still severer denunciation. " Curse ye 
Meroz," said the angel of the Lord, "curse ye bitterly the inhabitants there- 
of ; because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord 
against the mighty." This place, although its site is now unknown, must 
have been near the field of battle. Its inhabitants probably had an opportu- 
nity of rendering some special and important service to their country on this 
occasion, which, however, they failed to render. Having it in their power to 
do much for the public cause, they did nothing. They sent not a man ; 
they uttered not a word of encouragement or sympathy to cheer the heroic 
army of Barak in its sublime effort to save the nation from impending ruin. 
They stood utterly aloof from the contest, as if it were no concern of theirs, 



( ' ) 

when in fact it was tJieir destinj' that was being decided on the banks of the 
Kishon ; and they had the meanness to leave it to the noble men of Naphtali 
and Zebulon to defend their homes, and rescue their inheritance fi-om the. 
spoiler. While those generous heroes were pouring out their blood and 
offering up their lives on the high places of the field, in the fore-front of the 
hottest and hardest fighting, the inhabitants of Meroz were basely cowering 
within the shelter of their walls, awaiting the result of the battle ; ready, if 
Barak gained the day, to appropriate to themselves the happy fruits of the 
victory — equally ready, if Sisera triumphed, to cringe in tame submission at 
his feet. Such was Meroz ! With what ineffable scorn and loathing must 
Deborah and Barak and the loyal thousands of Israel have henceforth 
regarded that mean and traitorous people ! But the universal contempt of 
their countrymen was not the only burden they had to bear. Their offense 
smelled rank to heaven — the neglect to fight for their countr}^ in the hour of 
her jieril, was esteemed a crime of such enormous proportions, that the 
anger of God was kindled against them, and he determined to make them a 
monument of his stern displeasure. Such was his abhorrence of their crime, 
that a special messenger — the angel of the Lord — was sent to announce their 
doom. Deborah received the word, and proclaimed it in the ears of the 
nation. " Curse ye Meroz," said the angel of the Lord, " curse ye bitterly the 
inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help 
of the Lord against the mighty." The curse of the Lord is no mere utterance of 
a vain wish — it carries with it irresistible power — it is the actual infliction of 
punishment — it must have descended upon Meroz in some tangible, visible form 
of desolation, testifying to all men how gi-eat, in the sight of God, is the 
crime of refusing to defend one's country, even with force of arms, when 
great principles are at stake, and deadly enemies are attempting her 
destruction. 

Taking this inspired war-song then, as an instance of exuberant joy over 
a victory gained, of generous praise to those who had been instrumental in 
its accomplishment, of humble thanks to God for his almighty interposition, 
and of indignant rebuke to those who refused to share in the perils of battle, 
we may regard it as establishing our position, that war, though an evil of 
great magnitude, has sometimes received the express sanction of God, and 
may therefore be resorted to, in a just cause, as the necessary cure of evils 
greater than itself. 

Should any one attempt to weaken the force of this argument, by affirm- 
ing that the New Testament no where approves of such bloody conflicts, let 
me remind him that this very battle of the Kishon is there mentioned, in 
terms of high commendation as the evidence of remarkable faith and piety. 
In the epistle to the Hebrews, after specifjnng several instances of eminent 
faith, the writer adds : "And what shall I more say ? for the time would fail 
me to tell of Gideon and Barak, and of Samson, and of Jepthah ; of David 
also, and Samuel, and of the prophets ; who through faith subdued king- 
doms, wrought righteousness, * * escaped the edge of the sword ; out of 



( 8) 

weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies 
of the aliens." " Of whom," he adds, " the world was not worthy." Barak, 
whose name appears in this roll of sainted heroes, has no other recorded claim 
to the distinction, than the victory he gained over Sisera. So that the New 
Testamentjoins with the Old, in commending that sanguinary battle as the 
I'csult of great and acceptable faith in God. 

In this triumphal ode of the Hebrew poetess, we have a sufficient Scrip- 
tural warrant for the service of public thanksgiving to which we have been 
summoned by the President of the United States. To him who denies that 
a christian people may properly rejoice and render public thanks to God, 
over the military successes that have lately been granted to our arms, we 
appeal to Deborah and her battle hymn ; that hymn which was so acceptable 
to God that he made it a part of his inspired Word, and has, thus preserved 
it for the admiration of all ages. 

This call for thanksgiving and praise is appropriate and timely. It is but 
a few weeks since we were invited by the same high authority to observe a 
day of humiliation and prayer. And I believe that thousands felt the deep 
necessity of such an appeal to the God of battles — it was a day that wit- 
nessed much earnest pleading before the throne of grace — in all parts of the 
land the cause of our suffering and imperilled country, was borne up on the 
breath of fervent intercession, into the very presence of Him who has deliv- 
ered us out of so many dangers. And how soon and signally have those 
l^rayers been answered ! We prayed for military successes, and God has 
granted our desire. We prayed that the power of the enemy might grow 
weaker and weaker, and hasten to extinction, and it is rapidly coming to 
pass. We prayed that the patriotism and endurance of the people, might bo 
sustained and prove equal to the great emergency, and the event corresponds 
to our petition. It is true their faith and patience have been sorely tried. 
After a brilliant opening of the campaign by both our great armies, and a 
triumphant progress in the face of appalling opposition, their advance was at 
length arrested, and for successive weeks the country was compelled to wait 
for further success, until first disappointment, and then despondency began 
to depress the spirits of the people. This was greatly increased by the disas- 
trous failure of the last attempt upon Petersburg. Although fore-warned, 
and often reminded that in all great wars such reverses are to be expected, 
and that it onl}' needs patience and perseverance to win in the end, yet the 
hearts of multitudes fainted under the long delay. It cannot be doubted 
that the great masses of the people are truly loyal, and that from the begin- 
ning they have cordially sympathised with the Government in its effort to 
suppress the rebellion by force of arms. Yet it must be confessed that they 
walk too much by sight in this matter — their hopes and fears rise and fall with 
the visible aspect of affairs, as it varies from week to week, and almost from 
day to day. If victories follow each other in rapid succession, and the ene- 
my are defeated at all points, they arejoyful in hope, and strong in faith of 
our final success. But if wc meet with reverses, and months roll on without 



(9 ) 

any material gain, they are discouraged, and can see no light throiij>h the 
clouds — they even begin to fear that we have undertaken too much, and that 
the rebellion can never be subdued. They were passing through the gloom 
of this kind of reaction when our recent successes cleared up the sky and 
revealed the sun of our prosperity shining brighter than ever, and full high 
advanced on his victorious career to meridian triumph and glory. It was 
time. They needed just such events to rouse them from their despondency 
and re-animate their slumbering loyalty. The heart of the nation has revived 
— and men are fortifying themselves with new strength of purpose to perse- 
vere in the effort to conquer by military power, a righteous and lasting 
peace. 

The importance of our recent successes is not exagger.nted in the least, by 
this Presidential call to public praise and thanksgiving. They are among the 
most signal and decisive of the whole war. It may serve to exalt our concep- 
tions of what God has done for us, and to deepen our gratitude on the pres- 
ent occasion, if we take a brief review of the great events referred to in the 
Proclamation. 

The first of these in the order of time, is the capture of the forts in Mobile 
bay. There is a peculiar satisfaction in the surrender of Fort Morgan to our 
arms, since that is one of the forts stolen from us during that dismal period 
when the rebels appropriated whatever national property fell in their M^ay, 
without the slightest fear of molestation from the Government of the United 
States. The taking of these strongholds is of prime consequence to our 
cause, inasmuch as they command the harbor of Mobile, and will release 
the blockading squadron for service elsewhere, while they give us important 
advantages for further operations against the city itself. The great naval 
battle fought on that occasion, is destined to stand among the most celebrated 
sea-fights of all history. In some respects it has no parallel in tlie past, 
owing to the almost invincible character of the rebel iron clad ram, Tennes- 
see. This vessel, which seems to be the only decided success of the enemy 
at this species of naval architecture, proves to be one of the most formida- 
ble ships of war ever launched. Some idea of its prodigious strength may 
be obtained from the fact, that for an hour and a half it sustained the con- 
centrated attack of thirteen vessels of war, six of them iron-clad, with a 
total armament of two hundred guns, running upon her at full speed, and 
dischai'ging broadsides of nine-inch solid shot at a distance of ten feet, and 
yet without seeming to be moved in the least ! And it was only for want 
of sea room, — being hemmed in on every side by our fleet, — that she was 
obliged to surrender. After all these tremendous shocks, eight days were 
quite sufficient to fit her for service again. Merely to have deprired the 
enemy of so formidable an agent of mischief, is no small affair ; but to 
transfer it in good condition to the service of our own navy, is a victory 
indeed. To attack and conquer an antagonist so strange and impenetrable, 
so immovable and apparently independent of a!l ordinary and extraordinary 
modes of warfare, marks a new era in the history of sea fighting, and sheds 
a new glory on our gallant and world renowned navy. 



{ 10) 

The next military success for which we are invited to render public thanks 
to God, is the occupation of the Weldon railroad by General Grant. This 
important step had long been contemplated as a military necessity to our 
army. The Weldon railroad is the great artery through which the heart of 
the rebel confederacy has hitherto received its vital supphes. As long' as 
that was controlled by the enemy, Richmond could draw its sustenance 
througli Wilmington and the blockade runners, from the resources of Europe. 
The possession of this road therefore, was indispensable to the success of 
our operations against Richmond. How should this be accomplished? 
The difficulty lay not so much in taking, as in holding it. We had not 
men enough to admit of our lines being lengthened out so far ; the enemy 
could easily have massed such a force against our troops occupying the 
road, as would cither have driven them back to the main body, or cut them 
off from the base of supply, and destroyed or captured them. The only 
alternative was to wait for reinforcements. These came sooner than was 
expected ; not in the form of new recruits, but what was equivalent to the 
same thing, in the form of rebel troops sent to Atlanta and the Shenandoah 
Valley. When General Grant discovered that Lee had thus weakened his 
army, he at once seized the opportunity to grasp and hold the coveted position. 
The result vindicates the accuracy of his judgment, and the wisdom of his 
strategy. It is clear that the enemy were taken by surprise ; it is equally 
clear that they felt the loss to be a momentous one. Studious efforts have 
been made to disparage this movement* of General Grant's, as insignificant 
and worthless, and only partially successful at best, if not in fact a positive 
and costly failure. Let me ask in reply, if any one can believe that the 
enemy would have again and again put forth the most tremendous efforts, and 
sacrificed thousands of men, to recover a position of no material importance 
to them ? At a time when it is their evident policy to fight as little as 
possible, and when every man lost to them, is lost irreparably, is it likely 
that they would fight so desperately, and with such fearful loss to themselves, 
for a road they do not seriously need ? The language of these terrible battles 
evidently is, that the Weldon railroad is an indispensable necessity to them 
— that they are suffering for the want of it, and will suffer yet more, to the 
point of starvation perhaps, if they do not speedily regain it. 

But the great victory for which we owe special thanks to God this day, is 
the capture of Atlanta. The present campaign opened with two grand 
objective points in view, viz: — Richmond and Atlanta, and the two armies 
defending them, — the accomplirhment of which, would, it was supposed, be 
the end of the rebellion. One of the objects, — and as many regard it, the 
more important of the two, is now attained. It has been won as the result 
of one of the most remarkable campaigns on record. For four months Gen. 
Sherman has been pushing his way through more than a hundred mile? of 
rugged, mountainous, wooded country — confronted by a powerful army, ably 
commanded, — fighting ten pitched battles, and more than thrice ten lesser 
engagements, — obliged to assail and capture fortified positions of tremendous 



( 11 ) 

strength, — obliged to watch and protect a continually lengthening chain of 
communications, connecting with his base of supply,— marching and fighting 
almost without intermis sion, day and night, until now at last, he rests in 
secure possession of the prize for which all these herculean efforts have 
been made. The great value of this achievement is beyond rational dispute. 
In accomplishing it. one of the two great armies of the Confederacy has been 
shattered and greatly reduced. Since the first of May last, that army has 
lost nearly fifty thousand men. Its wasted ranks have indeed been partially 
supplied, but in such a manner as betrays more weakness than strength. 
Old men and boys, and timid, reluctant conscripts who had ekided every 
previous draft, formed but poor substitutes for the veterans who marched 
from Dalton. Still they were all the Confederacy had to offer. Such, in a 
great measure, arc the troops which are now flying in dismay before the 
victorious army of Sherman. 

Atlanta is the place which John C. Calhoun prophesied, in 1850, would 
be the greatest inland city of the Slave States, and the future capital of a 
prospective Southern Confederacy. Here are the foundries, furnaces, roUing 
mills, machine shops and factories, which mainly supply the rebels with 
cannon, small arms and ammunition, as well as with railroad material and ar- 
ticles for general consumption. The accumulation of these facilities in Atlanta 
and the neighboring towns, is immense. This whole region, of which Atlanta 
is the center, is one vast, busy workshop, where incessant toil furnishes at 
least one half the supplies for the rebel armies. All this now passes into our 
hands ; doubtless much of the machinery and material have been destroyed 
or removed by the enemy — but they can never serve the rebels again as here- 
tofore — and to them, the loss, in this respect, is irreparable. 

This newly captured city is the terminus of the vast grain-producing ter- 
ritory of Northern Alabama and Georgia, with the cotton lands lying between 
it and the ocean. It is here too that we take leave of the mountainous 
country through which our army has marched with so much difficulty. The 
restof Siierman's course will lie through a more open region, less unfavorable 
to military operations. With Atlanta as his future base of supplies, he will 
march against the cotton lands of the South. Commanding, as he now does, 
the great railroad system centering at this point, he can reach with eane^ 
every important city in Georgia and Alabama. In short, he has severed the 
Confederate Territory in twain, and intercepted the railroad communications 
of its Eastern and "Western sections. It is reasonable to expect that a gen- 
eral so sagacious, energetic and untiring, so patriotic and determined, with 
so splendid an army at his command, will not be slow to follow up this 
brilliant success with movements which will soon reduce the rebellion to its 
last extremity. If the enemy could not withstand hira in their mountain 
fastnesses, how will tliey arrest his advance through the open country ? If 
the veteran troops of Johnston could not hold their ground against him, 
wKat can wc expect from the beaten, broken and dispirited army of Hood ? 
If they could not keep so strong a place as Atlanta, what place can they 



( 12 ) 

keep ? That I do not exaggerate the military importance of this great achieve- 
ment, is evident from the estimate which the rebels themselves put upon it. 
One of their own senators, in a speech delivered at Jackson, Miss , only a few 
days before the city was taken, said that "everything depended upon Sher- 
man being kept out of Atlanta." And we have the testimony of the Rich- 
mond correspondent of the London Times, that the success of Gen. Early in 
Maryland, two months ago, was more than counterpoised in Richmond "by 
the gloom which was inspired by the mere mention of Sherman and Atlanta." 
And this was before our army had ci-ossed the Chattahoochee. In short, the 
proofs are overwhelming that the rebel authorities regarded this great center 
of railroad communication, and of manufacturing industry, as of vital im- 
portance to their cause; and they fortified and defended it accordingly. Of 
course, now that it is no longer theirs, they affect to speak of it as a trivial 
loss. This is their invariable custom under all reverses, and can deceive no 
one. And yet in spite of their assumed indifference, they are unable to con- 
ceal the dismay which this crushing blow has produced. It finds expres- 
sion in evey issue of the rebel press. The dismal howl they set up over the 
desolations of a war M'^hich they themselves have inaugurated ; the des- 
perate and perfidious measures they propose to replenish their wasted 
army ; and the intense anxiety with which they turn their longing eyes, and 
stretch out their imploring hands to their sympathising friends and allies at 
the North, — make it evident that the success of our arms in the present 
campaign has at last convinced them that they can never achieve their 
independence by military force, and that unless help comes to them in some 
other form and from some other quarter, the rebellion must soon collapse in 
utter ruin. 

With good reason then, does the President call on us to give thanks to 
God for the success He has recently granted to our arms. These naval and 
military triumphs are titantic blows delivered upon the very head and heart 
of the rebellion, under which it is staggering to its grave. Well does it 
become us to praise and magnify the God of our fathers who has not 
withdrawn his ancient mercy from us, but has "gone out" with and before 
our armies in their long and perilous marches, given them victory in the day 
of battle, and driven their enemies from city to city, from mountain to 
mountain, from fortress to fortress, until rebellion stands aghast at the doom 
that awaits it, an loyalty rejoices at the near prospect of an honorable and 
a righteous peace. 

What now, let me ask in conclusion, is the great duty we owe to our 
country in the present emergency ? To this momentous question a fitting 
answer has been given in that frank, manly and noble letter, recently written 
by Lieutenant General Grant. Permit me to quote an extract. "All we 
want now," he says, " to ensure an early restoration of the Union, is a 
determined unity of sentiment North. The rebels have now in their ranks 
their last man. The little boj^s and old men are guarding prisoners, guarding 
railroad bridges, and forming a good part of their garrisons for entrenched 



( 13 ) 

positions. Any man lost by them cannot be replaced. They have robbed 
the cradle . and the grave equally to get their present force. Besides what 
they lose in frequent skirmishes and battles, they are now losing from 
desertions and other causes, at least one regiment per day. With this drain 
upon them, the end is not far distant, if we will onlj^ be true to ourselves." 
These are the words, not of a politician, but of a patriot ; they express the 
deliberate opinion of a man who, though he could have had any office in the 
gift of an admiring and grateful nation, chose rather to be a soldier, and only 
a soldier ; — whose highest ambition seems to be to serve his country as a 
faithful and successful commander of her armies. He writes this calm 
and considered judgment under the very muzzles of the enemies guns. 
Characteristically cool and cautious, he knows whereof he speaks ; and he 
speaks as an eye witness of the facts to which he bears testimony. General 
Grant has given the highest proof of his sincerity and earnestness in making 
these declarations. He, and the brave officers and men under his command, 
like Naphtali and Zel^ulon of old, are this moment "jeopardizing their lives 
unto the death on the high places of the field." These words come to us 
sealed, as it were, with the blood of our martyred heroes, who have nobly 
offered their lives under the conviction that this rebellion can only be 
suppressed by force. AYords coming from such a source, written by a man 
who is constantly fighting to maintain them, and is ready at any moment to 
lay down his life for the truth they express, ought to have weight with 
us ; and they icill have weight with every candid and loyal mind. Let 
us mark them well. He tells us that the rebels have exhausted the materials 
out of which any more soldiers can be made ; while by desertions and other 
causes they are losing more than a regiment a day. How long at this rate 
,'\i will take to reduce what remains of the rebel army to a "lame and 
impotent conclusion," it is not difficult to conjecture. Without fighting 
another battle or firing another shot, simply by maintaining our pi-esent 
positions, the end of the war must hasten on apace. But with our own 
army replenished with men, inspired with success, hopeful of a speedy and 
final triumph, and energetically pressing upon the rebel forces at every point, 
how certainlj' and how soon may we expect to see the last of organized 
rebellion ! — And is this a time to proclaim a cessation of hostilities ? Shall 
we tamely concede the invincibility of the South, when she is trembling 
lest the very next move of our armies should put an end to her own V Is 
this the selected moment to talk of an armistice, when Sherman is marching 
on from conquering to conquer, and our glorious flag is waving triumphantly 
in the very heart of Georgia, — when Grant is di-awing a tourniquet around 
the neck of the rebel capital that is already producing incipient strangulation? 
Is it at this supreme hour of hope that we are to withdraw our forces and 
raise the blockade ? When a little more persistence, a few more vigorous 
blows, would annihilate the Confederacy, is it then we would strike our flag 
and sue for peace ? where is our manhood, where is our patriotism, where 
is our common sense, where is our faith pledged to the noble men who have 



( 14 ) 

fought our battles, the living and the dead,— where is our fear of God, if we^ 
can be guiltjr of such suicidal madness and perfidious treachery? An 
armistice wovUd open the rebel ports to those supplies, the lack of which is 
fast brins^ing the enemy to submission. It would sustain the rebellion for 
another four years. It would do more ; it would involve a quasi 
recognition of the Confederacy as an independent Power ; a concession which 
thej'^ would be sure to convert into a permanent fact. So that a cessation of 
hostilities could only result in a mere temporary and humiliating peace, to 
be renewetl, no longer with a domestic insurrection, but with a foreign 
nation. In any event, the present Union would be no more. The rebels 
never will consent to come back under our Constitution, for it is against that 
they have taken up arms. They may possibly admit us to a place in their 
confederacy, though not on equal terms with themselves. They are more 
likely however, to insist on a separate nationa,lity. The moment therefore, • 
we agree to an armistice, we seal the death w^arrant of the present Union. 
Out of that armistice, in all probability^ will issue two independent nations, 
if not more. Let those who insist on peace at any price, ponder this matter. 
Suppose the Slave States established as a foreign power, how much peace 
should we be likelj'' to have with such a neighbor ? What could we 
e.xpect from a people whose natural arrogance, despotism, deceit and 
cruelty have been developed to such a frightful extent during the progress 
of this rebellion ? What justice or mercy can we look for from men capable 
of murdering by hundreds, helpless soldiers, surrendered as prisoners of 
war, and whose only offence was, that, being black, they had presumed to 
take up arms for their country ? What are we to hope for from a people 
whose high officers and newspaper presses can approve and applaud such 
a wholesale massacre as a meritorious deed? When we remember that, 
thousands of our brave soldiers have been deliberately and with systematic 
atrocity, starved to death, and that too under the very eyes of the so called 
rebel President ; while other thousands have been sent home, mere skeletons, 
forever ruined in health, to be exchanged for strong and robust men from 
our prisons, — thus revealing the infamous purpose of this diabolic alcruelty ; — 
we feel that to dwell in the vicinity of a nation capable of such infernal 
•wickedness, would be to dwell in an atmosphere of incessant war. 

No, if we would have peace with these insurgents, we must conquer it by 
the strong arm. If we would enjoy permanent rest from this weary con- 
flict, we must put it out of the power of tjie rebels to renew the war. We 
must crush their armies ; and in order to this, we must destroy the institu- 
tion that feeds their armies. Slavery has been the left arm of the rebellion, 
and therefore slaver_y must die. As slavery was the moving cause of this 
war, so when that is done away, the only motive which could rally the South 
in another insurrection, will also be done away. Thus only will the land have 
lasting rest. In urging a vigorous prosecution of the war, therefore, we ad- 
vocate the shortest and only road to an abiding peace ; while they who de- 
mand the immediate cessation of hostilities, would open the gates to inter- 



( 15 ) 

minablc scenes of bloody strife. Which is better for ourselves, for our coun. 
try, and for our descendants, — which accords best with the interests of hu- 
manity and of religion,— a few more months of war now, and then enduring 
peace ; or a few months of suspended hostilities now, and then war for gene- 
rations to come? Deborah and Barak, when they "trod down strength'' 
in the valley of the Kishon, — Naphtali and Zebulon, when they jeoparded 
their lives unto the death, in the high places of the field, — Jael, when she 
smote the head of Israel's great oppressor, struck for peace in the name of the 
Lord, and secured it for a period of f(jrty years. Our fathers struck for peace, 
and with a strong hand, won it from the battle fields of the revolution ; and we, 
in consequence, have had almost eighty years of tranquillity in our blood- 
bought inheritance. And shall we refuse to fight for the peace and inde- 
pendence thus purchased for, and bequeathed to us by the sufffring and 
blood of those heroic men ? Like the recusant tribes of Israel, like the in- 
habitants of Meroz, shall we stand aloof and ' look tamely on, while traitors 
and parricides rob us of our birth-right, and lay waste our inheritance ? 
God forbid ! Let us rather, as worthy sons of our sires, gird ourselves 
anew for the final struggle. Not for strife, nor to "smite with the fist of 
■wickedness," not for hatred or revenge, or any other evil passion, but for the 
love we bear our countr}-, and the great cause she represents, — to save her 
from dismemberment and from long years of bloody conflict, — to maintain 
our free institutions and the principles of civil and religious liberty, and to 
secure an early peace, standing in righteousness, and safe from future in- 
surreciions, — for these objects, and in this spirit, let us press the foe on 
every side, with all the military agencies which God and nature have put in 
our hand-, and without a moment's intermission, until, like the iron-clad 
monster Tennessee, this hydra-headed rebellion, — for want of room to move, 
for want of air to breathe, — shall be compelled to surrender unconditionally 
to the power and authority of the United States. Then, when the confede- 
rate troops shall have laid down their ami's, given up their military stores 
and fortifications, and yielded themselves prisoners of war, — when the con- 
federate navy shall have passed into our hands, and the so-called Confederate 
Government shall have abdicated its usurped authority, either by submis- 
sion or flight, — when our glorious flag, borne with illustrious honor, through 
the most gigantic rebellion the sun ever looked upon, shall float in unmo- 
lested triumph on the soil of every State, on the battlements of every fort, 
on the towers of every city, over ever}^ town and village, and from the mast- 
head of every ship ; with its five and thirty stars all sliining bright and beau- 
tiful in its field of blue ; then we shall have a pence which no slaveholder's 
rebellion, no doctrine of secession will ever disturb. Then we shall have 
peace and Union, one and inseparable, broad as our whole country, bright as 
the sun, deep as ihe sea; peace protected by the whole power of the Repub- 
lic, and which no foreign nation will care to assail, — a peace it will be which 
victors and vanquished, rich and poor, white and blck may accept without 



-^ 



( IG ) 

dishonor or distrust ; a peace consecrated to civilization and humanity, 
ireedoin, law and religion, in the genial beams of which our chastened and 
renovated country shall gleam and gladden with new life, and bound forward 
on the career of national greatness, like a young giant to run a race. Then 
in fine, we shall have a peace under which Christianity, extricated from the 
stifling atmosphere of slavery, will recover its former glories, display its an- 
cient power, bring back the church to Scripture and to Christ, build up the 
kingdom of grace, overawe the kingdom of Satan, and prepare the way for 
that predicted time when Jesus shall take to himself his great power and 
his many crowns, and rcisrn over a sanctified world. 



